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They’d heard the stories.
But it was nothing compared to the chills that ran through their skin when they got out of the van and were now standing in front of the Paramour Mansion.
‘Holy shit!’ was the first thing Frank said, shocked by the magnitude of the historic building of Mediterranean style.
‘You think it’s really haunted?’ Bob asked out of nowhere, letting his bag fall on the driveway. ‘Like all the stories and shit?’
‘I don’t believe in that,’ Ray said, getting ahead of them and walking in the mansion.
Mikey looked around, serious as usual, and said, ‘I hope they’re not,’ before following Ray inside.
They all got their stuff and got inside, Gerard behind all of them. And Frank couldn’t notice he seemed quiet, but wasn’t sure if it was the right time to mention it. Besides, they were all fascinated by the place. Its colorful walls and eccentric decorations. Vintage furniture and rugs, accompanied by gold candelabras hung from high ceilings and stuffed animals. Some of the rooms reminded Frank of the Ways’ house, but he kept that to himself.
After they got settled in their rooms, a tour around the place, and a visit from their manager to go over the plan, they sat in what was called the ballroom – a large, empty room with wooden floors and a high ceiling –, bored as hell.
‘Maybe we should start writing,’ Gerard said, sharing a tub of ice cream with Frank. ‘Or at least, setting up the instruments for tomorrow.’
But Frank interrupted him. ‘Or we could do something fun – like telling ghost stories.’
‘Not again, Frank,’ said Ray. ‘Last time, you and Gee pulled that prank on us, and it wasn’t fun.’
‘Maybe not for you.’ Both he and Gerard giggled to themselves, even though Ray was obviously pissed.
‘Guys, I’m serious!’
‘Me too!’ Frank yelled. ‘I promised we have nothing. I just thought, since the place is haunted – it’d be fun, you know.’
‘I don’t think we have the same definition of fun.’
Frank rolled his eyes, and snatched the ice cream from Gerard. ‘Fine.’ So, they just sat there for a while, doing nothing. Mikey seemed too focused on his phone to pay attention to them, and Bob kept throwing paper balls at him. Ray was reading the paperwork that their manager had left for them to read, while the other two just gossiped about the rest.
At least until they heard a loud noise coming from upstairs.
‘Shit, what was that?’ Gerard whispered, and Frank noticed the grip he had on his hand, but tried to pretend he didn’t.
‘I told you. It’s haunted,’ Bob said next, and they all sat up, looking around.
Ray got up, already going to look for whatever made that noise.
‘Hey, Toro!’ the blond man called. ‘Don’t leave! That’s how every horror movie starts!’
‘You believe that too, Bob?’
‘No – But if it’s a murderer, you can’t be on your own, or you’ll be the first one to die!’ Bob whispered, careful not to speak too loud so that the ghosts wouldn’t hear him.
And it wasn’t that Ray believed in ghosts, because he didn’t, but he didn’t want to risk his life in case it was actually a murderer, but he walked back into the room, and sat with them.
‘Should we call the police?’ Mikey asked.
‘Fuck the police,’ Frank replied. ‘Let’s just stay here. It’s probably just a ghost. We should attempt to talk to them.’
‘I don’t think that’s a good idea,’ Ray protested. ‘We don’t know what kind of shit we can get into.’
‘He’s right,’ Gerard added.
Frank turned to him, a little disappointed. ‘But, what should we do, then?’
‘I’m in,’ Bob said. ‘Any of you got a Ouija?’
‘Oh, yeah. I came prepared just in case,’ Frank said, in a sarcastic tone. ‘Who do you think we are? Of course, not!’
‘I guess we can just try. If they’re here, they’ll hear us. They probably did already.’
The five of them shared a look, unsure of their decision. They all seemed scared as hell, but they were already in there, so – ‘Let’s do it, then,’ Ray was the first one to speak up, and the voice of reason, so everyone was waiting for him to say something, anyway.
They had no clue of how to do a séance, or what did they need, but they guessed they needed candles. And Gerard saw a few on a table outside his room, so he figured he could use one. They placed it in the middle of the ballroom, and lit it, and then, sat around it. ‘Should we hold hands?’ Frank stuttered, mostly because he was scared.
‘You just want to hold my brother’s hand,’ Mikey said.
‘Shut up!’
Gerard rolled his eyes, and took Frank’s hand anyway. ‘We should. I think that’s what we do in things like this.’ Not sure what to do next, they looked at each other, nervous. Ray took his other hand, and then, Ray took Bob’s. But Mikey would not take Bob’s or Frank’s. ‘Mikes, just do it!’ his brother yelled at him.
‘But I don’t want to do this!’
But everyone else stared at Mikey until he grabbed his bandmates’ hands, reluctantly, and the moment he did, there was a loud thunder outside, followed by a door being slammed somewhere. ‘Fuck! See why I didn’t want to do it?’ the younger Way said, crossing his arms and hiding both hands under his armpits.
‘I think we should go to bed,’ his brother said, and blew out the candle. Just then, there was a loud crack coming from the kitchen, as if a glass fell on the floor, and there was soft music coming from the other side of the room.
‘Fuck, fuck, fuck!’ they all said, and ran upstairs, because they didn’t know where else to go. They all held tight to each other in a group hug, getting farther and farther from the stairs. Mikey was the first one to speak up. ‘I think I’m gonna go to bed.’
‘I’ll go with you,’ Bob said, and followed him.
Ray didn’t even say a word, and just walked back to his room, shaking his head at Frank, who just stood there freaked out, because the dumbass had a separate room to the main house, and he had to walk out of the house to go upstairs to his suite, and he did not want to go back down there.
‘Frankie.’
When he turned around, Gerard was there, holding out a hand to him. ‘You can stay in my room today.’ Frank just nodded and took his hand. Gerard’s room wasn’t so big, but it was cozy, and it already smelled like him, even though they’d barely been in the house. But maybe that was because of his dirty clothes all over the floor. He led Frank to his bed and sat next to him.
‘I’m sorry,’ Frank apologized.
‘Sorry for what?’
‘For making you guys do this.’
‘It wasn’t your fault. We were all equally stupid to agree. But that’s just another Friday for us.’
That made Frank smile. It was true, they were all stupid, but it was Frank’s idea. He shouldn’t have suggested it. And he appreciated Gerard saying that.
There was a long silence that was probably scarier than what they had heard downstairs, though. It was full of little secrets and memories of Frank and Gerard sneaking around to have some alone time. It was also full of pain and insecurities. All those moments when they needed each other the most – Gerard’s grandma dying, and his addiction. All the nights Frank took care of him after that to make sure he didn’t drink or do anything stupid. Frank and Jamia fighting all the time, when they could see each other, and the way they just started to drift apart. And how at the end of the day, he ended up in Gerard’s arms.
He was his safe space.
They both knew that.
As much as they had tried to deny it, they were endgame.
They may lie and fool around, saying it was just two friends joking when they were a little touchy, or when they spent too much time with each other. But their smiles when they were around each other gave them away. The way Gerard would always turn to Frank as if he was talking only to him, and the rest of the world didn’t exist, and Frank would always give him dopey eyes and a nervous smile, because of course, he would always agree with him.
They loved each other. And not in the way they loved the other guys. No. Gerard loved and respected them, but none of them made him feel at peace and comfortable with himself like Frank did. And Frank loved them to death too, but neither of them got his heart beating fast or his knees to go weak, like Gerard did.
And they both knew the next couple months were going to be scary, and not just because of the house they were living in, but the expectations for their next album were huge, and they didn’t have a lot of songs written. This could be the end of their career, or the biggest thing ever. And it would be nice to have someone beside them, someone to hold hands with so it would be less scary. So, Frank took Gerard’s hand, and turned to him. ‘I have something to tell you,’ he stuttered.
Gerard just stared back.
‘I li –,’ and before he could finish his sentence, Gerard pushed forward and pressed his lips on his, cupping his face with both hands.
‘I love you,’ he said, once they pulled apart. It wasn’t their first kiss, but someone it felt bigger. ‘I love you,’ Gerard repeated, finally feeling free to say it.
Frank closed his eyes, not quiet believing he had heard those words. ‘I love you, too,’ he replied.
‘I’m going to need you a lot,’ Gerard admitted, his breath short.
‘I’ll be here.’
‘Good.’
Then, they lay down on the bed, where they continued kissing, and giggling, and cuddling, and Frank had already forgotten about what happened downstairs because Gerard’s lips were so good, and he was finally making out with his best friend.